livingston



UNITED STATES PATET OFFICE.

W. H. LIVINGSTON, OF NEW YORK, N.

FASTENING AXES TO HANDLES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,146, dated September 25, 1860.

.To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, W. H. LIVINGSTON, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Securing Axes andother Tools and Implements to Their Handles; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which-' Fioure l is a side view of an ax with itshandIe or helve secured in it according to my invention. Fig. 2 is aside sectional view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the twofigures.

The object of this invention is to attach the implement to the handle insuch a way that it may be readily detached when necessary, and alsoreadily secured thereto, and a firm connection obtained; the inventionadmitting of the implement being adjusted on its handle by any person ofordinary ability, and with the aid only of a simple wrench.

The ordinary mode of attaching axes and similar tools to their handles,to wit: by wedging the end of the handle in the eye, forms a veryinsecure connection, for on the least shrinking of the wood the handlebe comes loose and is liable to iiy off when the implement is used;besides, the old mode does not admit of t-he handle being removedreadily from the implement in case a new handle is required, nor can thehandle, in case of its becoming loose in the eye, be tightened withfacility. By my invention it is believed that these diiiiculties areobviated.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention I will proceed to describe it.

A represents an ax, which may be of usual construction, and B is ahandle of wood and of the usual form with the exception of the part a,which is fitted within the eye b, of the ax. This part a, is of rathermore taper form than usual, and said part has a metal strap C, passingover it and extending down at its front and back sides as shown clearlyin Fig. 3. This strap C, has a projection b,

at each side of it, said projections extending from the inner surfacesof the sides of the strap. These projections may be of semicircularform, and they fit in recesses in the handle, and eilectually preventthe longitudinal removal or' the strap from the handle. In addition tothe projections wood screws may be used to permanently connect the strapto the part a, of the handle, said screws passing through the strap andinto the front and back sides of the handle as shown by the dotted linesin Fig. 2.

D, D are met-al wedges which are driven into the upper end of eye one atthe front and the other at the back side of the handle. The front wedgeD, may have a jog or recess c, made in its outer end to receive a smallprojection (l, at the under side of a cap E, which is fitted over theouter end of the eye b, and has a screw F, passing through it, saidscrew passing through the outer part of the strap C, into the end of thehandle B.

By screwing up the screw F, by means of a wrench the handle will befirmly secured in the eye, the wedges D, D, firmly binding the part a,of the handle in the eye, so as to prevent any lateral working of theformer in the latter and the cap E, screw F, and strap C eli'ectuallyprevent any longitudinal working or movement of the handle in the eye.The projection d, fitting in the jog or recess c, prevents the cap E,from turning when the screw F, is being turned. The whole arrangement isextremely simple and ei'iicient, and will not add materially to the costof the implement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Let` ters Patent, is b The arrangement of the wedges D, D, capE, and screw F, with the strap O, helve B and ax A., as and for thepurposes herein shown and described.

WM. I-I. LIVINGSTON.

"Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, B. GIRoUsE.

